The E.A.R.: Leakage

Just over a week ago, The New York Times and The Observer, a British newspaper, broke the story that the British data analytics contractor, which worked with Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, retained private data from 50 million Facebook users despite claiming to have deleted it. Facebook executives including CEO Mark Zuckerberg have called Cambridge Analytica’s actions a “breach of trust.”

This would be a big story if this data was actually obtained without Mark Zuckerberg’s consent. I’m sorry, but I find the outrage to the Facebook fiasco kind of hilarious.

Websites have been “leaking” your information to third parties for years. Targeted advertising has existed for years. Cookies have been a staple of the web browsing experience since the dial up days. How do you think they know what kind of sick porn your husband likes to watch? How do you think they know you like big black curvy dildos, Susan?

Okay that was a bit crass, but you get my point.

The only thing that has changed over the years is that the algorithms evolved to better tailor fit your browsing experience to your likes and vices.

I can’t believe we’re surprised about this sort of thing in 2018, then again, these are the same people who believe sharing a post is somehow going to nullify privacy practices you agreed to when you signed up for Facebook.

The world would be a better place if people actually took the time to not only google the shit that seems too good to be true, but also understood what they signed up for when they decided to connect to the World Wide Web.

Also, you call that shit Mark Zuckerberg did an apology?! Nah, that sounds like a guy who’s gonna let it happen again. It’s like your boyfriend who slept around with half of the women in town; he’s only sorry he got caught, and he’ll do it again when he has the chance.

Mark Zuckerberg will definitely let this happen again because there’s money in letting third parties obtain that kind of data. He doesn’t give two shits that he violated your trust because there will always be people dumb enough to stick around to let it happen again.

Just remember: Your data will be sold and used in this fashion no matter where you go. The only thing saving you from this is to not use technology at all.

Stay classy…

Flemmings Beaubrun is an avid gamer and lover of music. When not working, Flemmings likes to spend his time whipping up dank beats for the masses. He also spends his weekends thrift shopping for rare video games and obscure electronics. Other times he’s in front of a TV with a giant bowl of cereal enjoying shows from the 90s.